Before leaving Orlando we picked up a little souvenir from Disney World. The Folly now lets the world know we’re Disney fans with this silver Mickey symbol placed high on the back of our coach.
Now what better way to spend your wedding anniversary than hitting the road again? OK, there are better ways, but that’s how we spent our 26th on April 30th. After being in the same place for nearly 5 months, we left Orlando early that morning and drove 207 miles to King George RV Resort in Woodbine, GA. Since we were only spending one night, we didn’t unhook the car to go anywhere but instead had a nice dinner at home. Actually we had already had a nice dinner Wed. night at TGI Friday’s to celebrate anyway.
The next morning we hit the road for Charleston, SC, one of my favorite cities. Charleston has a rich history that dates back to 1670 and has played many pivotal roles throughout the course of American history. However this trip wasn’t about reliving all that history since we’d done that when we lived here but rath
er about visiting friends. We stayed at the same KOA where we stayed last year that is actually located in Ladson, just northwest of Charleston, an easy drive into the city. This campground is very well maintained with lots of nice shade trees and even has a mini “zoo” consisting of a raccoon and a large alligator...both in well-protected cages. 
Sat. I met four friends for lunch at North Towne Grill & Seafood (www.northtownetogo.com/) for some wonderful Greek food. I sang with these ladies in Southern Harmony Chorus when I lived here, and it’s always good to be able to get together with time to chat outside of all the hubbub associated with r
ehearsals. Though singing and rehearsing can be fun, it’s still hard work and does not allow a lot of time to socialize during rehearsals. I knew Missy and Doris were going to meet me but had the added surprise of Edie and Sandi joining us as well. We stay in touch via e-mail but a couple hours just never seems like enough time for a face-to-face vi
sit. Later that afternoon Hank stopped by the rig for a drink and short visit. Hank worked with Russ in Charleston, and the guys had a good time catching up. The next day we had no visits planned and spent most of the day relaxing, doing ch
ores, and waiting for the Cardinals baseball game on TV. But the game got rained out so we decided to take a drive downtown. We found a place on the street to park (not an easy task!) and always enjoy walking around admiring the history, the architecture, the tourists, and peering in the shop windows. Next we drove around the Battery at the very south end of town, where the Cooper and Ashley Rivers meet, and always marvel at the beautiful, old historic homes. Rumor is that some are haunted! From here we decided to drive over to The Citadel Military College. Founded in 1842, The Citadel has an undergraduate student body of about 2,000 students and another 1,000 students attend The Citadel Graduate College. We had never visited this campus, and though much smaller, it reminded us a lot of West Point. Along one end of the quad are tanks, missiles, and rockets, and on one corner is a huge bronze statue of their bulldog mascot. But silly me forgot my camera! So to see pictures of this beautiful campus and learn more about The Citadel, you’ll have to go to their website (http://www.citadel.edu/main/).
We decided it was time to head home, but at the last minute took the “other fork in the road” and drove across the Arthur Ravenel, Jr. Bridge towards our old neighborhood in Mt. Pleasant even though it was in the opposite direction from our campground. I love the a
rchitecture of this bridge and it holds a special place in my memories so I always enjoy going across. The bridge, which crosses the Cooper River, opened in July 2005 while we still lived here, and these pictures are from that time. Until recently it was the longest cable-stayed bridge in the Americas, and the day before it officially op
ened, the city allowed citizens to walk across the bridge. Russ and I walked about halfway across and back, and it’s one of our fondest memories just being a part of that history. In fact, here’s a photo of us at the midway point on that day…one we’ll always cherish.
ores, and waiting for the Cardinals baseball game on TV. But the game got rained out so we decided to take a drive downtown. We found a place on the street to park (not an easy task!) and always enjoy walking around admiring the history, the architecture, the tourists, and peering in the shop windows. Next we drove around the Battery at the very south end of town, where the Cooper and Ashley Rivers meet, and always marvel at the beautiful, old historic homes. Rumor is that some are haunted! From here we decided to drive over to The Citadel Military College. Founded in 1842, The Citadel has an undergraduate student body of about 2,000 students and another 1,000 students attend The Citadel Graduate College. We had never visited this campus, and though much smaller, it reminded us a lot of West Point. Along one end of the quad are tanks, missiles, and rockets, and on one corner is a huge bronze statue of their bulldog mascot. But silly me forgot my camera! So to see pictures of this beautiful campus and learn more about The Citadel, you’ll have to go to their website (http://www.citadel.edu/main/).
We decided it was time to head home, but at the last minute took the “other fork in the road” and drove across the Arthur Ravenel, Jr. Bridge towards our old neighborhood in Mt. Pleasant even though it was in the opposite direction from our campground. I love the a
rchitecture of this bridge and it holds a special place in my memories so I always enjoy going across. The bridge, which crosses the Cooper River, opened in July 2005 while we still lived here, and these pictures are from that time. Until recently it was the longest cable-stayed bridge in the Americas, and the day before it officially op
ened, the city allowed citizens to walk across the bridge. Russ and I walked about halfway across and back, and it’s one of our fondest memories just being a part of that history. In fact, here’s a photo of us at the midway point on that day…one we’ll always cherish. 
For the short time we lived in Charleston I worked with some great people at CSS International (http://www.cssus.com/ ) on Daniel Island and always make plans to stop by for a visit. I worked for the corporate office, which has a small staff, but the company has quite a number of consultants and sales people nationwide. Unfortunately my form
er boss was out of town Mon. when I stopped by, but I had a great visit with Betsy, Kirsten, and Wendi, and visited briefly with the CFO, Mike, for whom I also did work. A couple of the sales guys were in town busy preparing a proposal so everyone was staying in for lunch. We ordered from one of my favorite places called Laura Albert’s (http://www.lauraalberts.com/raalberts.com/ ) and ate in the conference room. Though I hated to leave, they needed to get back to work and I needed to get the car back to Russ because he was meeting a friend for a late lunch on the other side of town.
Tues. night it was time to attend Southern Harmony Chorus’ rehearsal. It was so great to see my old friends again. Their Regional contest is this weekend, and the last rehearsal before contest is referred to as Friends & Family Night. It’s basically a dress rehearsal (costumes and full make-
up!) in front of an audience of friends and family with the chorus running through a few of their repertoire songs plus their contest package (two songs) followed by refreshments. I had arrived early to see everyone, and once the guests left afterwards, I stuck around while the chorus changed into comfy clothes and began to finetune and nitpick stuff a little more. To keep the
m in contest performance mode, I was asked to announce the chorus in the manner as will be done this weekend. Having been in a few of these contests, I well know the patter of that announcement and was thrilled to help out. They ran through their songs several times, so I got to play announcer and audience several times! Tom’s a fabulous director, and they are such a great group of ladies that I wish them all the best of luck this weekend. You can check out more about this wonderful chorus at http://www.southernharmonychorus.com/.Unfortunately it's Wed. and that means it's time to bid adieu to Charleston. But that just means it's time to head towards Camp Hatteras Campground on the Outer Banks in NC and the beach! (I’ll report on our trip there via ferry in the next blog.) I’m sure the water will be too chilly for swimming, but I’m quite sure Abby won’t mind! She had a blast last year chasing the ball and riding the waves! And Russ and I always enjoy just walking along the shore, picking up shells, and being awed by the power and majesty of the ocean.
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